Fire in the Shadows
by siriusoriion
Summary: A:TLA, AU. Three years after the death of Katara's mother, she finds herself in the Northern Water Tribe. Haunted by the memory of her mother's death and reeling with the discovery of her newfound abilities, Katara is left with no choice but to start on her own adventure to fulfill her own destiny. Future Zutara, Avatar Katara
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: This is my first fic ever and may be rough around the edges, sorry. Rated T for now, may increase if I decide to keep up with this because future Zutara. It is obviously AU, Katara is twelve when her mother dies and 15 at the time of this story. Yay, onward!

* * *

CHAPTER 1

The day that the ships came had been a turning point in Katara's life. Even now, three years later, she couldn't say whether the change was for better or for worse. She only knew that it was a change. And today, she knew that the fat snowflakes falling from the clouds above, sticking in her eyelashes and hair, were not a welcome presence. They shifted in front of her, twisting into black spots of ash, clouded her mind and burned her throat with the memory.

* * *

 _She had been twelve when they came. Twelve when the soldiers marched menacingly into her homeland. Twelve when her mother was killed. Twelve when she hadn't stopped them._

* * *

"Katara!" A stern voice shook her from her thoughts. "You still have much to learn. And you won't miraculously master waterbending from standing there in the snow. We have practice to see to."

Katara frowned. "I don't think that's entirely fair, Pakku." She let her gaze soften as she stared into nothing beside him and bent a stream of water gracefully into the air between them. "Do you remember what today is?" With a slight movement of her fingers, the water twisted and formed into the glistening, rippling shape of a Fire Nation warship.

The waterbending master's eyes softened as he took in the watery ship between them, and he refrained from correcting her with his typically scathing _"Master_ Pakku, if you please." He did know what the day meant to her. Of course he knew. Every member of the Northern Water Tribe knew what the day meant to her. It was the third anniversary of her mother's death. The pain in her cool blue eyes was evident.

"Of course I know, my dear." He allowed his hand to rest on her shoulder and coughed softly, struggling to find the words to continue. "I only meant- we should…" he trailed off.

The third anniversary of her mother's death also meant that it was nearing three years since Katara and Hakoda had arrived at the North Pole. Pakku knew as well as she did that there was nothing more he could teach her in the art of waterbending. He looked again at her ship floating between them, took in the level of precision and detail she showed in the figure. Then she flicked her wrist again and it exploded between them in a flurry of glittery ice. It had been months since Katara had surpassed him in skill, but they were both terrified to admit that they did not know how to move forward.

"You're right," he finally said with a wan smile. "I was being unfair. Go. Spend the day with your father. We will… You can speak to the council another day."

"Thank you… Master Pakku." Katara gave a small, grateful bow and turned up her fur-lined hood against the still-falling snow as she hurried away, towards home. _Home now,_ she thought bitterly to herself, cursing herself silently for falling back into her previous memories.

* * *

 _She had been twelve when they took Kya away from her. Twelve when she stumbled into the tent, when she saw her father broken like she had never seen him before. Sobbing, howling with grief, doubled over her mother's lifeless form. Katara had stood in the opening of the tent for what seemed like hours, taking in the scene with a cold, horrified expression frozen onto her face. When her father had finally composed himself as much as he could, finally lifted his swollen eyes to meet his daughter's wide, unblinking stare, she had whispered, "She was… protecting… me."_

" _Katara, love, of course she was protecting-" Hakoda began, reaching for her._

" _She was protecting ME!" She had been unable to stop the strangled scream before it escaped from her throat, and she stumbled backwards out of her father's grasp, kicking the furs on the ground away from her as she staggered back to her feet and bolted._

" _Katara!" her father had shouted behind her, but as she ran his words were drowned in the wind, muffled by the snow. The silence had been eerie, after the ships had gone. They had disappeared as quickly as they came, leaving only that disgusting black film over everything, over the igloos and tents and the blankets of snow around them._

 _She ran out of the tent, down the pathway between all of the other families' homes, past her brother and her Gran-Gran and past all the other kids of the tribe- kids all huddled together, staring towards her and her family's tent with expressions of pity and fear. It wasn't until she fell, gasping, onto her hands and knees a hundred yards away that Katara noticed that the tent, her childhood home, had gone up in flames._

* * *

Katara pulled her hood tight around her chilled face and lifted her eyes to the sky. Silver clouds floated peacefully above her, but the sky was otherwise clear. _Except for the damned snow._ She frowned again. Before, snow had delighted Katara. When she first discovered her waterbending, as a small child, she used to sit for hours, waggling her fingers at the sky and trying with all her might to make the snowflakes move. She allowed herself to smile sadly and exhaled, her warm breath flooding her hood and fluttering against her cold cheeks. She looked upward again and made a decision.

Now striding more purposefully down the icy path, Katara took a left turn where she would have continued straight to the small home she shared with her father. She walked more quickly now, afraid of losing her nerve, and when she finally arrived in front of the tall blue double doors of the council building, she only hesitated for a moment before knocking sharply. Speaking with Chief Arnook could wait no longer. The ways of the Northern Water Tribe may have been outdated, but there was no doubt in her mind that the council would hear her out. She only had to speak to the Chief first, to sort her thoughts out and to hear out his own plans for her.

When the doors finally swung open, Katara froze in the doorway. Five familiar faces stared back at her, and she shook her head slowly in confusion as her eyes met her father's. "Um… hi?" she said awkwardly, stepping inside the council chamber. It wasn't until after the heavy doors had behind her that she noticed the sixth figure in the room. Katara barely had time to survey the strange woman's unfamiliar appearance before she bowed respectfully and addressed her for the first time. "Avatar Katara," she said warmly. "We have been expecting you."


	2. Chapter 2

NOTE: Hardly any people have seen this so far but I got my first review EVER and it motivated me so much I just pumped out this chapter ASAP! It's a little shorter than I would have liked but it felt right to end it where I did. WE GET ZUKO THIS CHAPTER! Side note, if it seems like I am characterizing Katara strangely, it is because I'm just going with what feels right at the moment. I think she'd be way more broken and angry than in the show, at least for now, mostly due to the whole "being the Avatar" thing, and feeling like she isn't in control of her own life. Fear not, she will figure herself out!

* * *

CHAPTER 2

The woman was tall and elegant, with pale skin and dark hair that curled gently over the shoulders of her parka. _She's beautiful,_ Katara thought passively. What stood out to her most were the woman's striking green eyes. They looked like emeralds, framed by long, dark lashes. _She's also wearing all green,_ Katara noted. _Earth Kingdom._

"Pardon my discourtesy, my dear," she finally spoke up, not unkindly. "My name is Wei. We were just about to send for you."

Wei looked friendly enough, but Katara couldn't stop herself from being suspicious of ulterior motives. It seemed to her like there was always an ulterior motive. She couldn't bring herself to speak, so she nodded primly and stepped forward to take a seat beside her father at the low council table. Everyone was looking at her. Again, Wei broke the silence.

"The Northern Water Tribe is lovely," she began. "I've only arrived this morning but everyone has been so accommodating."

Katara sighed. "I know why you're here. You don't have to make small talk with me. I came here to have this _very_ conversation with Chief Arnook." She looked at him accusingly. "It would be nice to be kept in the loop about things concerning _myself."_

He had the decency to avert his eyes and flush shamefully. _Good,_ Katara thought, s _ee what it's like,_ before she shifted her eyes back to Wei. "You want me to learn earthbending. I know."

The woman leaned slightly over the table and smiled again. "You've been here in the North Pole for almost three years, Avatar Katara. Tension is rising between the nations, and no one knows who you are. The Fire Nation is still searching for an airbender."

"My name is just Katara. You don't have to call me Avatar all the time. Please don't."

"Katara, then." Wei's eyes met Katara's, and Katara saw something behind them that she couldn't place. Interest? She tilted her head. "Your father has told me that you've long surpassed your waterbending master. And that you've mastered the art of healing, thanks to Yugoda. That is excellent. You're lucky to have had such wonderful teachers.

However, as the Avatar, waterbending is but a fraction of the knowledge you'll need at your disposal to help bring this war to an end. We think it is best that-"

"Yes, best that I get started on mastering the other three elements, right?" Katara interrupted with a bitter laugh. "It's not as if we have an excess of firebenders at our disposal to teach the _secret Avatar,_ do we? And all the airbenders are, well…" She frowned for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "I won't be learning airbending, I don't think. Two out of four elements. That doesn't make me much of an Avatar, does it?"

When she had approached the council building, she had intended to make this very argument herself. She had found a resolve that wasn't there before, and she was going to offer to travel to the Earth Kingdom to learn, of her own accord. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt stubborn again. _I hate when they make plans for me, as if I'm not even a person to them. Only some sort of secret weapon._

"Katara." For the first time since Katara had entered the room, someone other than Wei spoke. It was her father. His words were gentle but to Katara each one felt like a separate punch to her gut. "I know this is difficult. I know you don't want to leave. I know that the North Pole has become our… it's become like our second home. You are right about the firebenders. It's true that we have yet to find you a master we can trust. And air… we will cross that hurdle when we come to it. But an earthbending master is something we _do_ have. And as the Avatar, you have a responsibility to-"

 _"_ _As the Avatar,"_ Katara mimicked sarcastically. She tried to ignore the pang of guilt that rushed through her at the sight of her father's wounded expression. Hakoda closed his eyes and when he opened them again the emotion was entirely different.

"I only meant… it's what she would have wanted." He spoke softly, but the words were like a slap in Katara's face. She stood quickly and stepped back before the rest of the silent council members and _Wei_ could see the tears as they started to fill her eyes. The voice that came out of her then was low and venomous, and she looked her father directly in the eyes as she spat _"I think what she would have wanted was to be alive."_

She knew that it wasn't fair before she said it, and she knew as the words tumbled viciously from her mouth, and she knew more than ever afterwards, when she saw the pain clearly in his blue eyes. But all she said was "If you'll excuse me," and strode quickly out of the room into the cold again, letting the heavy doors slam behind her. Escaping her problems was something Katara had become an expert at.

* * *

"It's been three years, Prince Zuko. Perhaps you have not been searching in the right places." The old man turned concernedly to his nephew. The prince had been standing stiffly on the deck of his ship, staring at the dark water with an unreadable expression, but at Iroh's sympathetic words, a flash of anger passed through his amber eyes.

 _"_ _I am not looking in the wrong places!"_ Zuko shouted, whirling to face his uncle. Black smoke rose dangerously from his clenched fists. Iroh did not back down. That only made Zuko angrier, and he lowered his voice to a vicious growl. "I _will_ capture the Avatar. He's closer than ever. I can feel it." He glared down at his uncle with contempt, and almost as an afterthought, spat "If you're so certain I'm looking in the wrong places, prove yourself useful for once and offer some decent guidance. _General."_ He turned his back coldly and began the walk back to his chamber in what he hoped was dignified silence, but he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling of guilt threatening to claw its way up from his stomach. _I don't feel guilty,_ he said to himself firmly. _Uncle- he just doesn't understand. He's never understood. He's never cared about honor. I need to go home._ _Father understands honor. That's why I'm here._ A burning feeling closed the back of his throat and Zuko screamed in fury before it could overtake him, flames erupting from his mouth. The two guards outside his door sprang away from him in alarm as he ripped his door open, still shouting. He slammed it behind him with a deafening metallic crash and kicked it for good measure. Spirits be damned if Zuko let anyone witness the crown prince of the Fire Nation cry.


	3. Chapter 3

NOTE: This chapter is kinda short and I'm sorry, but it has been sitting on my computer for weeks and I'm so done with it. Anyu is my own character. Wow, Zuko is hard to write! I know where I am going with this story, I just need to get there. Zuko and Katara will eventually meet, babies 3 Onward!

* * *

CHAPTER 3

Katara made a beeline for the gate after exiting the council room. _Hell if they'll find me out there._ She eyed the small white door that was set into the side of the towering ice wall and edged toward it, silently, as she had done a hundred times before. It wasn't that she hated the Northern Water Tribe- it was only that, despite the sprawling city and the hundreds of tribesmen clamoring to befriend the Avatar, Katara felt inexplicably isolated. When she made her weekly escapades beyond the city walls, she never ran away or tried to escape- it wasn't as if she was truly a prisoner, anyway. She simply spent hours sitting on the edge of a glacier outside the walls of the city, staring blankly into the dark water and listening to the low cracking sounds of ice drifting against itself. That sort of isolation wasn't so bad.

Katara shook her head and opened the door, slipping through it in the same motion and closing it quietly behind her.

 _"_ _Spirits,"_ she heard someone curse loudly, followed quickly by "Oh, Katara, it's you. Um… Sorry about that. You, uh, scared me."

Katara laughed. "Sorry, Anyu. I should knock."

"We both know you never do, though." The young guard rolled his eyes at her and leaned back in his chair, propping his boots onto his desk. She felt a pang in her chest when the way that he pointed at her accusingly reminded her of Sokka. "So, going out there again? What happened this time?"

Sighing, Katara took a few steps forward to lean on Anyu's desk beside his feet. She peered out of the window that he spent his guard shifts staring through, but as usual, the only thing that met her eye was a vast, white expanse of empty snow. "Just Avatar stuff. And my Dad. They want me to leave, to learn earthbending."

Anyu frowned. "Do you want to talk about it? I'd listen, I mean. Who's _they_?"

"The council, and some earthbending woman they've brought in. Well, Earth Kingdom. I'm assuming she's a bender." Katara's forehead wrinkled. "Actually, I didn't ask if she'd be the master. It doesn't matter either way, does it? She's only here to tell me what's best for me, and remind me that I need to be used as some sort of secret world peace trump card. Today is the worst possible day for them to heap all this on me, too. It's… well." She sighed again. "My dad had the nerve to bring my mother into it. He told me she would have liked to see me as some fully realized Avatar. I told him she would have liked to not be murdered."

Anyu winced, but he quickly schooled his features. When he started to talk again, it was tentatively. "Have you… have you ever earthbended before? I mean, I know that when you realized, you must have done… something besides water, but-"

"No." Katara rolled her head back to stare at the ceiling. "Well, I mean, not consciously. When we found out, it was… the day she died. I ran away, and when I kicked my way out I set our tent on fire. There were bits of rock everywhere. It was a mess. That's how they knew, at first."

"So you had an Avatar tantrum?"

 _"_ _My mother had just died,_ I wouldn't call it a _tantrum."_ Her voice rose dangerously, and Anyu raised his hands in surrender.

"I was just making a joke," he apologized. "A bad one. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm just touchy today." She allowed herself to smile reluctantly. "You're my friend, Anyu. I knew what you meant."

Katara never stayed long, but for some reason, today, she found herself reluctant to leave. Anyu was staring expectantly in her direction, so she took a breath and continued.

"I feel _lost_. I don't know what to do. I know I should be trying to master all the elements so that I can have some part to play in this war, but what if I can't? There's no guarantee I'll ever even be able to master airbending. The airbenders are gone! The last Avatar is gone! And I have no idea what happened to him, and now I'm here, and…" She trailed off.

"Katara, I'm sure that-" Anyu started to speak, but he stopped when he noticed her bright blue eyes brimming with tears.

"I don't even know what my mother would have told me. I don't know what she would have wanted, and I think that is the worst part of all of this. Not knowing."

She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears from spilling out. There was a loud scraping noise when Anyu pushed his chair back and put his feet down. When she looked at him again, he was leaning forward, looking at her seriously.

"Katara, you _do_ know what your mother would tell you. She _loved_ you. That's why you're here, isn't it? She gave her life for you, to protect you, the last Southern waterbender. She wanted you to have the chance to become a master. Imagine if she could see you now! She would be so proud. I know she would." He leaned forward to take her hands in his.

"I know you miss her. And I know your dad does just as much. He didn't mean to upset you. He just believes in you, and he knows your mother did too. She really would want you to be the best Avatar yet."

Katara stood and smiled sadly at him. "Maybe she would," she whispered. "I just wish I could speak to her, one more time." With that, she slipped quietly through the door to the other side of the wall, to sit on her glacier and think.

 _"_ _It's what she would have wanted,"_ she heard, over and over again in her head, until her skull was pounding and she couldn't take it anymore. A few rogue tears slipped unbidden from her squinted blue eyes and froze there on her cheeks. Katara shivered. Almost an hour had passed before she stood to head back inside, to face her father and more of her own thoughts. _It won't do if I freeze out here,_ she thought with a bitter laugh.

* * *

When Zuko strode onto the deck of his ship the next morning, he looked like death. He had screamed and sobbed into his pillow for hours the previous night, and his good eye was swollen and rimmed with red. None of his crew dared to say anything, but they all took notice. It was only Iroh that noticed the glint of almost manic determination behind his nephew's eyes, and it worried him.

"Have you decided on a new plan, Prince Zuko?" He kept his tone pleasant, but he was still concerned. Zuko was too distracted to notice his uncle's uneasiness.

"Yes. We're starting over. Tomorrow we start for Ba Sing Se. I'm going to search under every damn rock in the Earth Kingdom."

Iroh looked at him for a moment, then brightened.

"I know just what you need, Nephew! A nice, hot cup of jasmine tea and some time to relax. Come, let's play a game of Pai-"

 _"_ _I am not playing Pai Sho! I am not resting!"_ Zuko shouted, then squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in heavily. "I will not stop until I capture the Avatar. The next time I have time to _rest,_ it will be in my own bedroom in the Fire Nation Palace. My _home._ "

"Zuko, what do you expect to find in Ba Sing Se? The Avatar is not likely to be hiding in such-"

Again, Zuko cut his uncle off before he could finish his thought

"He may be the Avatar, but he had to learn the other three elements somewhere. Even if he isn't there, someone who knows something will be." The look on his face was frightening, even as he turned and began to walk away."

"I _will_ find him," he repeated, calling back over his shoulder. Iroh only shook his head.


End file.
